Food Safety

Craven District Council provides a food safety service to make sure that food and drink provided in the Craven District is safe. We help businesses comply with the law through advice and inspection of food premises.

We are responsible for the safety of food, which is imported, produced, sold and consumed within the Craven district.

We advise and educate food businesses and take enforcement action where appropriate.

These are some of the things that we do:

risk assessments of all registered food premises to give them a hazard rating - this determines how often we inspect them;

programmed food hygiene inspections

enforcement when hygiene and standards are not met/maintained

inspect and monitor approved premises

food sampling to ensure the wholesomeness of food

investigate food complaints.

We need to achieve the above in a way which is responsive to the needs of residents, businesses and visitors to the District (who may be affected by poor food safety) and to provide an effective and efficient enforcement programme to ensure food safety is improved and standards are maintained whilst not imposing undue burdens on businesses.

Food poisoning is usually caused by eating food contaminated by bacteria, or the toxins which bacteria produce. There are many different bacteria that cause food poisoning, each one causing symptoms that differ in nature and severity.

Craven District Council aims to ensure that all food produced, handled, distributed, stored and consumed within the district is safe and is of the nature, substance and quality demanded by the consumer.

We carry out regular checks on all food premises to ensure the public is protected and that high standards are maintained. Visits to food businesses are carried out without prior notification. Higher risk businesses are visited more frequently than lower risk.